Placement Tests

Requirements, guidelines, and credit

Placement tests are offered to determine the appropriate language class for incoming students who have studied Greek. You may take a placement test during the last weeks of August or during the semester. For an appointment, contact Professor Franklin Hess: flhess@indiana.edu.

Oral proficiency alone is not enough to assure placement into a higher level of Modern Greek. You must also demonstrate knowledge of the forms and structure of the language, the ability to correctly comprehend written texts, and the ability to write and spell correctly. Students who are able to test out of a portion of the language requirement typically have spent considerable time attending Greek School, though attending Greek School is not a guarantee that a student will be able to succeed on the placement exam.

A student being placed in E150 (second semester) will be able to demonstrate:

familiarity with the Greek alphabet and an ability to read and write simple sentences

correct use of the present tense, A verbs, and some major irregular verbs

correct use of nouns as subjects and direct objects, singular and plural (nominative and accusative cases)

correct use of basic adjectives as subjects and direct objects

correct use of major prepositions

command of basic vocabularies for talking about a variety of subjects such as food, clothing, family, and friends

numbers from 1-1000, days of the week, telling time, age

the ability to give basic directions, to buy and sell things, and to order a meal in a restaurant

personal pronouns as subjects

some understanding of the future and past tenses (A verbs)

For placement in E200 (second year, first semester), you need to demonstrate a command of all E150 material and the following:

extensive understanding of the following verb tenses: the present, the simple past (aorist), the simple future, and the infinitive (A, B, and irregular verbs)

some understanding of the following verb tenses: the continuous past (imperfect) and the continuous future (A, B, and irregular verbs)

the ability to comprehend a basic passage and write a basic essay

the ability to give simple commands in the active voice

the ability form and use comparative and superlative adjectives

the ability to use personal pronouns as subjects, direct objects, and indirect objects

command of possessive pronouns (emphatic and non-emphatic forms)

command of basic interrogative pronouns (who?, what?, where?)

the ability to describe people, to talk about the weather, to have a phone conversation, talk about a trip you made or plans for a future trip

all numbers

For placement in E250 (second year, second semester) you must demonstrate all of the above and the following:

the ability to use Γ verbs in the present, simple past (aorist), and simple future tenses,

familiarity with the passive voice

command of less familiar families of nouns and adjectives

the ability to comprehend an intermediate level passage

the ability to write an intermediate level passage with few errors, including spelling

To test out of the language requirement (all 4 semesters), you need to need to have command of all of the basics of Modern Greek grammar, including all tenses of the Γ verbs and most of the difficult families of nouns and adjectives. You need to be able to construct and understand simple and complex sentences comfortably and consistently. You need to demonstrate an extensive vocabulary. Last, you need to be able to write an essay with minimal errors in grammar, syntax, and spelling.

Students testing out of the first semester of the language requirement will receive 4 credit hours. Students testing out of the first and second semester, will receive 8 credit hours. Students testing out of the third semester will receive an additional 3 credit hours upon completion of E250. Students testing out of all four semesters will receive an additional 6 credit hours upon completion of the E300. You must hold a US passport to be able to receive credit hours for testing out of the language requirement.